It's that time of the week again, the blog piece that rounds up all the action, and provides you with an outlook into the rest of the action that's going on this week, and the top 10 highlights from all the action gone by.
I think I'll start on a big topic which I've covered a bit both on this blog page and on my social media at times, and it comes back to that big issue about respecting officials.
Jurgen Klopp is a very passionate manager indeed if no-one has realised, but last weekend there the Merseyside Youth League had cancelled all of their matches as a protest against official abuse, which has seen 380 bans at grassroots level for players and managers after they had either threatened or attacked a match official.
A worrying statistic, and these top managers should be setting a better example I believe than the one we saw on Sunday, and the players could also do with following suit, even though it seems Klopp won't face any action, as shown in the tweet below.
Match officials have one chance in real time to make that split second decision, and it's just not physically possible I believe to get every single one right, and has said previously, VAR is not there to re-referee the game, it's there to overrule clear and obvious errors.
We have to move away from the fact that we feel it is acceptable to shout abuse at officials, passion or no passion, it should not happen, and when I looked through social media after the game the talking point wasn't really centred around the fact that Liverpool had played superbly to beat Manchester City, a result I felt was deserved may I add, it was still looking at some of the refereeing decisions.
I caught a glimpse of Ref Watch on Sky Sports yesterday there, and the presenter made an excellent comment, I think Anthony Taylor did a great job, he picked up almost everything he needed to, and if people think that he had an impact on that game which meant Liverpool won it, I think they need to think again.
Onto other stories now though, because we could be here all day on that matter, in rugby union England women were pushed all the way by France in their second world cup game, winning 13-7 in the end.
Scotland fell to an agonising 14-12 defeat to Australia while Wales were beaten comprehensively by New Zealand.
In action closer to home, Fylde made it the perfect six from six after they recorded an excellent 41-16 away win over Rotherham.
Hailed in the match report as one of the best away performances by a Fylde side in a decade, it certainly was an important win for the side, as it stamped their authority down on the rest of the league, and showed they were here for a promotion push this season.
Preston Grasshoppers also won 24-18 at home to Sheffield in a good day for the sides in National League Division Two North.
England rugby league were excellent in their 60-6 win over Samoa, while Scotland weren't so good against Italy.
Ireland beat tournament debutants Jamaica, who ended up scoring their first points in their world cup history thanks to a penalty goal, while Wales kick off their campaign tomorrow night against the Cook Islands.
A break in all the action now to give you Ells ten again, some of you liked it last week so it's back to provide you with all of the sporting moments which jumped out to me...
Ells Ten
1. Football - Liverpool beat Manchester City 1-0 in the Premier League, thanks to a Mohamed Salah goal, manager Jurgen Klopp was also sent off in the win.
2. Rugby League - England kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 60-6 win over Samoa, Scotland fell to defeat against Italy, while Jamaica scored their first points in World Cup history, but it didn't stop them from being beaten by Ireland.
3. Rugby Union - Saturday saw England women make it two from two in the World cup with a win over France, meanwhile Scotland fell to a narrow defeat to Australia, while Wales were thrashed by New Zealand.
4. Horse Racing - Baaeed loses his unbeaten run at Ascot, and Cheltenham will be sticking to a four-day festival for the foreseeable future.
5. Rugby Union - Wasps have announced they have gone into administration this week, joining Worcester.
6. Boxing - Claressa Shields beats Savannah Marshall by unanimous decision to become the undisputed middleweight world champion.
7. Formula One - Max Verstappen wins his second world title.
8. Tennis - Emma Radacanu will lead Team GB next month in Glasgow at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
9. Cricket - England beat Pakistan in their final T20 warm up match, thanks to one massive six, and 26 runs from Barrow's Liam Livingstone, as they won by six wickets.
10. Rugby Union - Fylde sit pretty at the top of the table, after their sixth win in a row this season away to Rotherham, Preston Grasshoppers also picked up an important home victory.
Finally, the other big news this week was that Cheltenham officials got a decision on the future of the festival, and whether it would stay at four days or move up to five.
The decision made was that they would stick to four, one I think which is the right one, because it does keep the racing competitive and also keeps the festival a massive occasion and one that is extremely difficult still to have winners at.
I'll give you a little update as well on some of my past interviewees, the marathon man is on day 291, edging closer to 300, Martha Allington won young sports personality of the year at the South Cumbria Awards ceremony last night, Matt Watkinson is still having plenty of runners in his racing club, and Morgan Knowles obviously featured for England at the weekend.
I hope you all enjoyed this blog piece again, and I'll make sure that I see you in the next one, also keep an eye out on social media for my #wheresell posts to see where I'm out and about at during this week, I promise I've got a busy one ahead!
Comments